MANILA, Philippines—A lawmaker Monday cautioned Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes against rushing to reopen the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), saying that the country lacks a “culture of safety.”

Roilo Golez, House senior deputy minority leader, said the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) recommendation that the country rehabilitate the $2.3-billion nuclear plant in Bataan should be studied by a “competent team” in the Department of Energy.

“But I don’t see anyone at the DOE right now,” he said in a phone interview. “We should not depend on those who are in the business of espousing nuclear plants.”

Golez said that even if the safety measures were all in place, “we have not achieved a culture of safety that is observed in Japan, the United States and Western Europe.”

Reyes said on Saturday that the government was seriously studying the option of reopening the plant to boost the country’s energy supply and avert a power shortage.

He said an inspection team from the IAEA recommended the plant’s rehabilitation at a cost of $800 million.

The 620-megawatt power plant was mothballed during the Corazon Aquino administration over safety concerns. The deal to build the plant was also attended by payoffs to the Marcos regime.

Attractive to some countries

Nuclear power has become attractive to a number of countries because of the soaring crude oil prices and of climate change.

China is building eight new nuclear power plants with a combined output of 7,300 MWe, while India will add 2,700 MWe through five nuclear plants under construction, according to F. G. Delfin Jr., a former energy undersecretary.

In Southeast Asia, Vietnam and Indonesia plan to operate their first 4,000-MWe nuclear plant by 2020, he said.

Several nations attending the Group of Eight (G-8) rich nations that met on Sunday in northern Japan with representatives of China, India and South Korea said they were enthusiastic about building new reactors. But other nations demanded assurances of safety and security of nuclear materials.

The IAEA said last week that the world would have to build 32 new nuclear power plants each year from now until 2050 as part of efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions by half.

Ridiculous, dangerous

The militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) called Reyes’ proposal “ridiculous and dangerous.”

“Now, the government is suggesting we borrow more money, $800 million more, so we can operate the plant. This debt will again be paid for by Juan de la Cruz. They call that a solution, mire the people deeper in debt?” Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes said.

Besides, he added, the plant posed threats to environment and public health.

“The issue is to resolve the energy crisis by reducing power rates. This can be done even without operating the BNPP. The starting point would be the removal of VAT (value-added tax) on power and oil,” he said.

Zamboanga del Sur Rep. Antonio Cerilles, a former environment secretary, agreed with Reyes’ proposal.

High time

“It’s high time that we make use of it, especially at this time that we might be short of power,” he said in an interview.

Cerilles said the country should follow the lead of some countries which opened nuclear plants and achieved industrialization.

“If it’s possible, why don’t we put up nuclear plants around the country to provide cheap electricity so we can move forward to industrialization and be globally competitive?” he said. With a report from Abigail L. Ho